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Civil service management and corruption: what we know and what we don't (2018)
Journal Article
Meyer-Sahling, J., Mikkelsen, K. S., & Schuster, C. (2018). Civil service management and corruption: what we know and what we don't. Public Administration, 96(2), 276-285. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12404

Numerous studies have linked a range of economic, social, and institutional variables with corruption in government. Yet, most of this literature overlooks the management of public officials themselves. This is a relevant omission: almost all corrupt... Read More about Civil service management and corruption: what we know and what we don't.

Civil service management in developing countries: what works?: evidence from a survey with 23,000 civil servants in Africa, Asia, Eastn Europe and Latin America (2018)
Working Paper
Meyer-Sahling, J., Schuster, C., & Sass Mikkelsen, K. Civil service management in developing countries: what works?: evidence from a survey with 23,000 civil servants in Africa, Asia, Eastn Europe and Latin America

Civil servants are central to effective governance in developing countries. They deliver essential services to citizens, commission infrastructure, regulate economic activity and engage in diplomacy with foreign countries – to name just a few tasks.... Read More about Civil service management in developing countries: what works?: evidence from a survey with 23,000 civil servants in Africa, Asia, Eastn Europe and Latin America.

Hidden costs of cuts: austerity, civil service management and the motivation of public officials in Central and Eastern Europe after the crisis (2016)
Journal Article
Meyer-Sahling, J., Janta, B., Reinholde, I., & Van Stolk, C. (2016). Hidden costs of cuts: austerity, civil service management and the motivation of public officials in Central and Eastern Europe after the crisis. European Journal of Government and Economics, 5(2),

The implementation of austerity measures presents a dilemma for governments. While austerity measures such as cutbacks aim to reduce costs and enhance public sector efficiency, the same measures might undermine the motivation of employees and, conseq... Read More about Hidden costs of cuts: austerity, civil service management and the motivation of public officials in Central and Eastern Europe after the crisis.

Civil service laws, merit, politicization, and corruption: the perspective of public officials from five East European countries (2016)
Journal Article
Meyer-Sahling, J., & Mikkelsen, K. S. (2016). Civil service laws, merit, politicization, and corruption: the perspective of public officials from five East European countries. Public Administration, 94(4), 1105-1123. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12276

Research on bureaucracy and corruption tends to concentrate on cross-national research taking countries as the unit of analysis. Yet national-level measures neglect large differences within countries. This paper therefore takes the perspective of ind... Read More about Civil service laws, merit, politicization, and corruption: the perspective of public officials from five East European countries.

Party patronage in contemporary democracies: results from an expert survey in 22 countries from five regions (2016)
Journal Article
Kopecky, P., Meyer Sahling, J., Panizza, F., Scherlis, G., Schuster, C., & Spirova, M. (2016). Party patronage in contemporary democracies: results from an expert survey in 22 countries from five regions. European Journal of Political Research, 55(2), 416-431. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12135

This Research Note presents a new dataset of party patronage in 22 countries from five regions. The data was collected based on the same methodology to compare patterns of patronage within countries, across countries and across world regions that are... Read More about Party patronage in contemporary democracies: results from an expert survey in 22 countries from five regions.

Silent professionalization: EU integration and the professional socialization of public officials in Central and Eastern Europe (2016)
Journal Article
Meyer-Sahling, J., Lowe, W., & van Stolk, C. (2016). Silent professionalization: EU integration and the professional socialization of public officials in Central and Eastern Europe. European Union Politics, 17(1), 162-183. https://doi.org/10.1177/1465116515608270

This paper applies theories of international socialization to examine the impact of European Union contact on the professional socialization of public officials in Central and Eastern Europe. Based on a survey of officials in seven new member states,... Read More about Silent professionalization: EU integration and the professional socialization of public officials in Central and Eastern Europe.

A case of partial convergence: the Europeanization of central government in Central and Eastern Europe (2014)
Journal Article
Meyer-Sahling, J., & Van Stolk, C. (2015). A case of partial convergence: the Europeanization of central government in Central and Eastern Europe. Public Administration, 93(1), https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12122

This article compares the Europeanization of central government in four Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs): Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia. Using a largeNsurvey of ministerial civil servants, it finds that the Europeanization of ce... Read More about A case of partial convergence: the Europeanization of central government in Central and Eastern Europe.